Gary Kubiak to decide on QB rotation Friday

Gary Kubiak still hadn’t made up his mind how he plans to use T. J. Yates and Case Keenum Sunday against the Saints but will announce his plan Friday after a meeting with his offensive coaches. Matt Schaub is expected to play the entire first half and possibly the opening series of the third quarter, depending on his play count.

Kubiak has previously said the quarterback who goes in third in the New Orleans game will be the starter against the Cowboys Thursday night, when Schaub won’t play at all.

“I’m going to keep pushing both of them to the end with this thing,” Kubiak said. “They both will play a great deal against Dallas, obviously. We’re going to take this thing all the way until the end. I think it’s extremely close. They’ve both played well and I think it’s important for us, as a team, to push them to the end and just see how it goes throughout the course of the (entire) preseason.”

He admits he expected the competition to be heated.

“A young player (Keenum) has responded to becoming a better player and a veteran (Yates) responded to the pressure of somebody pushing him,” Kubiak said.” That’s what putting together a team is all about. It’s (about) making us all better. “Somebody’s got to lean (across the finish line first). We’ll figure it out. It’s a nice problem to have. We’ve got two good ones.”

Kubiak wasn’t yet prepared to say whether he would keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.

“I think it’s probably too early because you don’t know what else is going on with your team,” he said. “But I would say we’ve got three good ones and you don’t (want to) let good football players go.”